Mr. Erford said very seriously, and Shade drew the Big City Player, 1853 Tobesk Champion, with the suit of Star 12, and showed it to him on the snow:
"I was last year's Big City Players champion, and I have a lot of special cards in my deck."
Mr. Erfurt clapped his hands in surprise and laughed:
"The champion of 1853. Yes, 1853 is the year when the Grand City Players held the tournament. I actually forgot about it... I had no chance to play cards with the Grand City Players champion when I was alive. I didn't expect that I would have such an opportunity after I died. It doesn't matter. Please use all your special cards. This is the way to respect the dignity of the Rhodes cards and the players. Life is really amazing. I died here and had such an amazing experience."
Xia De also smiled:
"I didn't expect to meet an opponent with special cards this afternoon."
He took out the dice and threw them onto the snow, then stopped Mia who was trying to grab the dice:
“What rules should be used?”
"Keep it simple, the first one to win twice wins."
Mr. Erford suggested that this was the simplest rule and represented the purest Rhodes.
"no problem."
There was no referee in this card game, so there was no need to check each other's decks. The two people sitting opposite each other in the snow put their cards on their right hands and drew the first hidden card together.
"Speaking of which, I'm curious. This place is so far away from the city, Mr. Erfurt. Is there anything noteworthy nearby that has brought you all the way here?"
Shade asked, and then he and Mr. Erford drew the second card. Shade's second card was the newly acquired Moon 12 Phantom Opera·Silent Audience. This card can force the opponent to stop playing when the previous card is also the Moon suit, but unfortunately Shade looked at his bottom card, which was the Sun 4 Carsonrick Southern Folk·Moon Dance Festival, which also could not play its role.
Moon Dance requires that you have a moon suit card in your hand when you draw this card for it to work, so it has no effect as the first card.
"Look, you actually drew the special card right away."
Soul said in amazement, staring at the Moon 12 and reading the rules with great interest. When he heard that this was a new theme deck released in 1854, he became even more interested:
"My special card was also drawn from the Prophet's Association on the first day the cards were issued."
"It's 16 o'clock."
Shade was thinking in his mind, indicating that he would draw the third card, and Mr. Erford also wanted to continue drawing cards:
"Yes, I came here to investigate because there is indeed something worth noting here. I heard from the people in the town that there are ruins of a very ancient temple nearby, on a certain mountain."
The two of them drew the third card together. Shade frowned slightly. It was Star 4. Although it had a special pattern, it was not a special rule card:
"I'm on hold, Mr. Erfurt, I'm at 20."
He showed his three cards:
"You are right. There is indeed an ancient temple nearby, on the mountain over there. But it is not dedicated to the earth, but to the night."
"Is that so? It seems that the information I got was wrong."
Soul said with some annoyance, reaching out to draw his fourth card:
"Let me see my luck... I'm busted."
Star 5, Star 12, Sun 2 and Moon 7. The first three cards were 19 points, but unfortunately the last luck was not good enough.
Mr. Erford's four cards were thrown onto Tiger, and Shad's three cards were placed onto Mia.
The soul continued:
"But it's rare to find a temple dedicated to the night. Usually, the night is worshipped together with the moon. I heard that there is a protected relic of moon worship on the outskirts of the city, but unfortunately I didn't have the chance to see it."
Xia De felt more and more sorry for him:
"So before your accident, did you find any interesting places nearby?"
The two began the second round of card drawing. The open space in the cedar forest was illuminated by the evening sun, and Shade felt warm all over. The cat, who was used as a temporary "card stand", also enjoyed the sunshine at this time, lying lazily on Shade's legs and unwilling to move.
"Yes, I climbed up the high mountain over there to look for the ruins of the temple that the townspeople talked about."
Mr. Erford pointed his finger and saw the direction was exactly the direction of the Night Temple:
"I confirmed that I was in the right place. Just as the townspeople said, there was indeed a cave entrance at the bottom of the mountain. But when I climbed to the top of the mountain, I couldn't see the temple ruins or the arch."
The two of them drew their second card together, and Shade looked at the card and laughed:
"Big City Player, 1853 Tobesk Champion, Suit: Star 12. When you draw this card, you have the right to look at your opponent's hidden card."
“I didn’t expect to actually encounter this.”
Mr. Erford said excitedly, putting aside the second card he drew, "Flower 1", and then showing his hole card:
"I thought I could give you a surprise."
On the card, a beautiful girl wearing an apron and a headscarf holding a broomstick seems to be dancing alone in front of the fireplace. Although the card is in black and white, the delicate pattern is still surprising.
"The Prophet's Association is already planning to release colorful cards. I'm looking forward to seeing the colorful cards."
Shad said.
Ancient fairy tale Cinderella, suit: Moon 3. If this card is the first hole card, if the final score is equal to 19 points, it will be adjusted to 20 points. If this card is the last card, if the final score is equal to 18 points, it will be adjusted to 19 points.
"Ancient fairy tale series..."
Xia De narrowed his eyes slightly:
"I also have two cards from the Ancient Fairy Tale series."
Ancient Fairy Tale · Match Girl, originally belonged to Shad's friend Baron Lavender, who helped Shad win it from Baron Rwanda at Lakeview Manor, and temporarily placed it in Shad's hands. But later Baron Lavender promised Shad that if Shad won the Big City Player Championship, the card would belong to Shad... ... The baron obviously bet a lot in the fall;
As for the ancient fairy tale Sleeping Princess, it was won by Earl Darak of Canberra, the "third nail" that Shad drove into the real world from the narrow gap when he was in Midhill Castle. The earl later appeared again to help him on the night of the Battle of Mount Sikar, and Shad still remembered the earl's rapier skills.
"But Cinderella means..."
Shade hesitated, and Mr. Erfurt explained:
"This is another name for an ancient fairy tale. You must have heard of the popular names of this fairy tale today, such as "Gray's Glass Slipper" or "The Princess in the Pumpkin Carriage."
Shade smiled:
"I've heard of it, I've heard of it... So it really is this."
He also showed his first hidden card, even though he could have chosen not to:
"Then I turned over my card, too. Look, here it is."
Genesis Silver Moon Suit: Sun 3. Using this card, you can adjust the number within the range of 1 to 5.
Shade's total points are now 15, and he has not yet used the hand adjustment number rule. Mr. Erford's total points are 4, and he is still far from the end.
The small talk ended temporarily, and both of them were quite concerned about the next card draw.
Xia De drew the third card, hesitated for a moment, and then laughed:
"Surprisingly, Star 2. I stopped trading and adjusted the Founding Silver Moon of Sun 3 to Sun 5, 5+12+2, and my total points are 19 points."
“This is indeed a good choice.”
Mr. Erfurt also said, and then showed his hand:
"The flowers are 13, and I'm 17."
Xia De nodded:
"If you draw a 2 next, 19 will be adjusted to 20, and you win. If you draw a 3 or a 4, both of which are higher than mine, you can also win."
Soul looked at the deck of cards next to him and took out the next card:
"Let me see... Ha, Flower 7, I'm not surprised at all."
He smiled and shook his head, not caring at all:
"It's already very satisfying. I was able to have an exciting match with the champion of the big city players, and even see the founding series. It's already very satisfying."
He gathered his cards together and handed them to Shade:
"They belong to you."
"Thanks."
Shade took the cards and stood up with the soul. The tiger also stood up. It probably realized what was going to happen and walked back and forth on both sides of the soul.
Mr. Erfurt stroked the tiger's fur and said to Shade:
"Please don't kill it this time."
"OK."
Xia De nodded, then rummaged through his pockets, found a piece of raw meat toy, restored it, and threw it on the ground. Among the toys he carried, food was the most numerous.
Mr. Erfurt then said to the tiger standing on the snow:
"I'll let you go this time, but if you hurt anyone, it will be my fault. For the sake of the two years we've lived together, go to the mountains and forests. I hope you haven't forgotten your hunting instincts."
He patted the tiger's head for the last time. The tiger looked up at him, picked up the piece of meat, then turned and ran into the depths of the cedar forest. This time it did not look back.
Mr. Erford sighed, and his body gradually became transparent. Shade stretched out his hand and drew a black crack, allowing him to leave as soon as possible:
"You didn't actually find the wrong place, but you weren't looking for the top of the mountain. You were looking for the path from the cave, where you had to climb up to the top... But luckily you didn't enter the cave, which is very dangerous."
The soul shook its head slightly:
"It's not important anymore. That's what happened when I was alive... I also found some interesting traces on the top of that mountain. If you're interested, you can go and have a look."
He bowed slightly to Shade, and then his spirit disintegrated into points of light and flew towards the crack. Shade watched Mr. Erford's soul appear on the calm and dark water in the distance, and walked towards the dark moon along with thousands of souls.
The crack closed, and Shade picked out the ancient fairy tale Cinderella from Moon 3 and added it to his deck. Then he held Mia in one hand and looked at the mountains in the distance:
"The top of that mountain, right?"